reptile
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English reptil, from Old French reptile, from Late Latin rēptile, neuter of reptilis (“creeping”), from Latin rēpō (“to creep”), from Proto-Indo-European *rep- (“to creep, slink”) (Pokorny; Watkins, 1969).
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Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɹɪpˈtaɪl/
Audio (UK) (file)
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈɹɛp.taɪl/
- Rhymes: -aɪl
Noun[edit]
reptile (plural reptiles)
- A cold-blooded vertebrate of the class Reptilia; an amniote that is neither a synapsid nor a bird.
- (figuratively) A mean or grovelling person.
- 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar […], OCLC 928184292:
- This work may, indeed, be considered as a great creation of our own; and for a little reptile of a critic to presume to find fault with any of its parts, without knowing the manner in which the whole is connected, and before he comes to the final catastrophe, is a most presumptuous absurdity.
- 1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “(please specify the chapter name)”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, OCLC 28228280:
- "That reptile," whispered Pott, catching Mr. Pickwick by the arm, and pointing towards the stranger. "That reptile — Slurk, of the Independent!"
- 1847, Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights, chapter XXVII:
- {...} If I pitied you for crying and looking so very frightened, you should spurn such pity. Ellen, tell him how disgraceful this conduct is. Rise, and don’t degrade yourself into an abject reptile—don’t!’
Hyponyms[edit]
- See also Thesaurus:reptile
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
a cold-blooded vertebrate
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Adjective[edit]
reptile (not comparable)
- Creeping; moving on the belly, or by means of small and short legs.
- Grovelling; low; vulgar.
- a reptile race or crew; reptile vices
- 1795–1797, Edmund Burke, “(please specify |letter=1 to 4)”, in [Letters on a Regicide Peace], London: [Rivington]:
- There is also a false, reptile prudence, the result not of caution, but of fear.
- 1797-1816, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Christabel
- And dislodge their reptile souls / From the bodies and forms of men.
Synonyms[edit]
- (creeping, crawling): reptilious, creeping, crawling; reptitious (obsolete)
- (contemptible): See Thesaurus:despicable
See also[edit]
- herpetology
- Category:en:Reptiles for a list of reptiles in English
reptile on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Anagrams[edit]
French[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
reptile m (plural reptiles)
Derived terms[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- “reptile”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Latin[edit]
Adjective[edit]
rēptile
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Late Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Visual dictionary
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/aɪl
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English adjectives
- English uncomparable adjectives
- en:Reptiles
- French terms borrowed from Latin
- French terms derived from Latin
- French 2-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio links
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
- Latin non-lemma forms
- Latin adjective forms